Changes

== Current ==

* So far little is known about the [[Gemstone Hegemony]], other than that they were the original source of the purple beam weapon used by [[The Black-eyed Army]] in the battle of the [[Capital Temple]]. It is interesting to note that more than once we have seen evidence of technology, devices or entities of a crystalline nature, such as the [[Blue Crystal Trap]], the [[Purple bio-stone]]s and the [[Rotator]]s. Given the [[Gemstone Hegemony]] were able to develop a powerful weapon in the form of a purple beam weapon hundreds of years earlier, it is not a huge stretch to expect that other useful technology from them would have been collected by [[The Black-eyed Army]], or previously by [[The First World]]. [[Cristina Thompson]] and other tech specialists would likely have studied such technology in order to develop advanced technologies of their own.

* It is the same entity encountered by [[Cristina Thompson]] when trying to rescue a number of [[Brownshirt]]s from a world covered in a plant/fungus organism. Read more about it under [[Cordyceps Fungus]]. Where it came from remains a mystery, but we've likely seen some of its nasty creations leaking out of [[Teskoy Prison]] or in from outside in the form of the [[Carnivorous Motile Vines]] and the [[Facehugging Plant Pod]]s. Maybe we will see more of these nasty creations later on?

* From Aztec mythology, [[Mictlan]] is the name of the land of the dead. In essence, an underworld of sorts. Mictlantecuhtli is the ruler or lord of [[Mictlan]]. We have two sorts of known entity that comprise the [[Mictlan]], the massive metallic construct which appears to be the central control node, and the [[Corpse-thing]]s, which are little more than drones. When severed from the controller the [[Corpse-thing]]s revert to standard harmless corpses. As for why the [[Soul Reader (Book)]] could read the soul of a dead person from the world destroyed by the [[Mictlan]], the most likely answer here is that the victim committed suicide, preventing the loss of their soul.

* Currently we know [[GLORWOC]] reproduces itself and is characterized by a bright blue iridescence wherever it is present. At this point it is likely [[GLORWOC]] is a microorganism that can metabolize a wide range of materials, whether organic or inorganic (eg. metal). It is spread through direct contact as discovered by [[Noah Fulmer]], but is likely capable of airborne transmission when in large enough quantities. Its origin is still unknown, but it would make an ideal biological weapon, so it may have been deliberately created rather than come about through chance. Nothing yet has explained what [[GLORWOC]] actually is, where it came from or why it is named as such. It may be an acronym, standing for something like ''''G'''enetically engineered '''L'''uminescent '''OR'''ganic '''W'''eaponized '''O'''ffensive '''C'''ompound'. [[GLORWOC]] seems to be significant in that it appears to be unstoppable, even to vast organic entities capable of manipulating the pocket realities of the back paths. If it is intended to be a weapon, it may be quite useful to any one of the various factions.

* [[Heath]] first contacted a [[Shadow Entity]] during the story of 'The Desolate Guardians'. From here he learned that he was unable to be helped himself, as the [[Shadow Entity]] said allowing it to consume him would be kinder than his current existence. [[Heath]] has apparently subsequently made a deal with the entity, likely offering his consciousness or soul to the entity in exchange for its assistance helping those that [[Heath]] was unable to contact. This came into play in [[Noah Fulmer]]'s story, where the same [[Shadow Entity]] helped awaken both copies of Noah as well as [[Jay]], [[Roger]] and others from their psychic interrogation. As the interrogation involved both psychic and drug-induced components, the party most likely behind this was [[The Black-eyed Army]], who would have hoped to locate the [[Capital Temple]] through any information Noah could offer. [[Heath]] apparently does not expect to remain alive should he deliver on his end of the deal.

* The [[Key Program]] seems to be software, housed on one copy of [[Noah Fulmer]]'s mobile phone. In this sense it shares the trait of being software driven sentience, similar to the [[Data Angel]]. Where it differs however is that the [[Data Angel]] was constructed artificial intelligence with a limited set of functional parameters available to it, while the [[Key Program]] is apparently a software version of a [[Brownshirt]] volunteer that permanently altered his form to perform his task as the key program. The [[Data Angel]] also originated from a different plane of existence to humans, and was sent by another entity to build a bridge between the planes, this would suggest they are probably unrelated.

* The exact length of time that [[The Black-eyed Army]] has existed is not really known, but we can estimate it to be not much more than about five years old. This is from Conn's story in 'The Crushing Fist', where the events of [[Earth 44]] and [[The Ink]] were stated as occurring five years earlier. Due to the clinical immortality of some citizens of [[The First World]] as well as the enhancements to those who were altered by the [[Shadow Entities]], it is possible the members of [[The Black-eyed Army]] may have existed for hundreds of years prior to their conversion. This would seem to be supported by the mention of a stolen purple beam weapon used in the battle of the [[Capital Temple]], which was stolen from the [[Gemstone Hegemony]] eight hundred years ago. That said, there has been no mention of who exactly stole the weapon from the hegemony, and it may have been acquired prior to the formation of [[The Black-eyed Army]], potentially while [[Command]] was still active. One reason for such an action could have been the ongoing war with the [[Yngtak]].

* [[Laura Thompson]] is or was the daughter of [[Conn Thompson]] and [[Cristina Thompson]]. From the various stories it is assumed that Laura died at some point in the past, which turned Cristina into something of a monster which resulted in the events of the engagement in [[The Ink]] on [[Earth 44]], and the creation of [[The Black-eyed Army]]. How Laura actually died, or whether she actually died remains unknown, however it is notable that [[Alek]] has a sister also called Laura. One theory at this point is that [[Alek]], along with his brother and sister may be the children of a parallel version of [[Conn Thompson]] and [[Cristina Thompson]], where their lives followed very different decision paths. There are a few other theories regarding [[Laura Thompson]], one notable one being that she was the lost child in the back paths found by [[Noah Fulmer]]'s duplicate while programmed with his hunter personality. Whether or not Laura is truly dead or alive remains to be seen, various versions of her have been encountered in both states.

* Cristina's shoe contains dirt from one of the realities she has gone through in the past. How exactly Cristina traveled between realities is unknown, but she may have used various installations of [[The First World]], or through fractures in the realities similar to how [[Alek]] lead refugees towards [[The First World]]. What the dirt contained is unknown, it is unlikely to be [[GLORWOC]], as it would have spread and destroyed everything around it, so another possibility is another microorganism, such as [[Temporal Bacteria]], or a residue of some sort. Given the [[Regret Demon]]'s considerable abilities, it can be presumed that whatever was on the shoe is rare and hard to obtain, and provides a material advantage to the [[Regret Demon]], whatever its agendas may be.

* Current theories are that the duplicate of Noah was reprogrammed by either [[The Black-eyed Army]] or a similarly aligned faction. The party responsible for the shared psychic interrogation of both of the Noahs and a number of others ([[Roger]] and [[Jay]]) also used drugs, suggesting a less supernatural influence was at work. Their rapid departure would also match the actions of [[The Black-eyed Army]], who would likely have moved using the [[Shadow Sphere]]'s portal abilities.

* It really wouldn't be surprising if more of these existed, [[Ward Shaw (The Sword)]] provided a psychic link to allow one such titan to project its [[Regeneration Core]] into its deep future, and during the battle with [[The Mad God]] other titans may have resorted to similar techniques, or been shattered into fragments that came to rest in or connected to other realities. Other massive organic entities have been encountered, such as the [[Dreamer On High]], or the organic entity in the series 'It Watched Us Play'. One interesting aspect of the [[Regeneration Core]] was its ability to affect the minds of many individuals from a considerable distance, in which it leaked its bitterness, pain and anger into the population. The vast collective apathy experienced by [[The First World]] may have been due to the loss of the [[Regeneration Core]], or even through the influence of another, similar core elsewhere on or near [[The First World]].